Data deduplication system

ABSTRACT

A data deduplication system includes a data deduplication subsystem coupled to each of a host system and a storage system. The data deduplication system receives data from the host system, generates a data deduplication identifier for the data, and determines whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in a data deduplication database. In response to determining that the data deduplication identifier is not stored in the data deduplication database, the data deduplication system stores the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database in association with a data counter for the data, and transmits the data to the storage system for storage. In response to determining that the data deduplication identifier is stored in the data deduplication database, the data deduplication system increments a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier in the data deduplication database, and discards the data.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to performing data deduplication operations for data stored in information handling systems.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.

Information handling systems such as, for example, host systems coupled to storage systems, sometimes perform data deduplication operations in order to provide for more efficient utilization of the storage resources provided by the storage system. Conventional data deduplication systems operate to perform data deduplication operations at the source of the data (e.g., the host system discussed above). For example, a deduplication agent operating on the host system (which provides an application host or Virtual Machine (VM) that generates and transmits the data for storage) may perform data deduplication operations as part of data backup operations it conducts to backup application data, which reduces the amount of data the host system will transmit over a network to the storage system, but operates to introduce compute/processing overhead for the host system/application host/VM due to the compute/processing operations that must be performed in order to carry out the data deduplication operations discussed above (e.g., which occur while also performing relatively compute/processing intensive data backup operations.)

One solution to the issues associated with the source-based data deduplication operations discussed above provides for target-based data deduplication operations that are performed by the storage system. As described in further detail below, such target-based data deduplication operations may be performed by a backup appliance operating on the storage system as it receives data for storage, or as it performs post-processing operations to move data from a primary storage subsystem to a backup storage subsystem or archive storage subsystem. Those target-based data deduplication operations operate to reduce the compute/processing overhead on the host system/application host/VM discussed above by removing the need for the host system/application host/VM to perform data deduplication operations. However, such target-based data deduplication operations provide for the transmission of data over the network to the storage system without performing data deduplication operations, thus using up network bandwidth for data that may be redundant and thus discarded by the backup appliance in the storage system during data deduplication operations.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a data deduplication system that addresses the issues discussed above.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, an Information Handling System (IHS) includes a processing system; and a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a data deduplication engine that is configured to: receive data via a network from a host system; generate a data deduplication identifier for the data; determine whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in a data deduplication database; in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in the data deduplication database: store the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database in association with a data counter for the data; and transmit the data via the network to a storage system for storage; and in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in the data deduplication database: increment a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; and discard the data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of an Information Handling System (IHS).

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a data deduplication system.

FIG. 3A is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for performing data deduplication operations using the data deduplication system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3B is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for performing data deduplication operations using the data deduplication system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4A is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4B is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4C is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4D is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4E is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4F is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4G is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4H is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 2 operating during the method of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a data deduplication system provided according to the teachings of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a data deduplication system provided according to the teachings of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7A is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for performing data deduplication operations using the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 or 6.

FIG. 7B is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method for performing data deduplication operations using the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 or 6.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a data packet transmitted during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11A is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 or 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11B is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 or 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11C is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 or 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12A is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12B is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12C is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12D is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12E is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12F is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12G is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 5 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 13A is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 13B is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 13C is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

FIG. 13D is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the data deduplication system of FIG. 6 operating during the method of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer (e.g., desktop or laptop), tablet computer, mobile device (e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA) or smart phone), server (e.g., blade server or rack server), a network storage device, or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include random access memory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, touchscreen and/or a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.

In one embodiment, IHS 100, FIG. 1, includes a processor 102, which is connected to a bus 104. Bus 104 serves as a connection between processor 102 and other components of IHS 100. An input device 106 is coupled to processor 102 to provide input to processor 102. Examples of input devices may include keyboards, touchscreens, pointing devices such as mouses, trackballs, and trackpads, and/or a variety of other input devices known in the art. Programs and data are stored on a mass storage device 108, which is coupled to processor 102. Examples of mass storage devices may include hard discs, optical disks, magneto-optical discs, solid-state storage devices, and/or a variety other mass storage devices known in the art. IHS 100 further includes a display 110, which is coupled to processor 102 by a video controller 112. A system memory 114 is coupled to processor 102 to provide the processor with fast storage to facilitate execution of computer programs by processor 102. Examples of system memory may include random access memory (RAM) devices such as dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), solid state memory devices, and/or a variety of other memory devices known in the art. In an embodiment, a chassis 116 houses some or all of the components of IHS 100. It should be understood that other buses and intermediate circuits can be deployed between the components described above and processor 102 to facilitate interconnection between the components and the processor 102.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an embodiment of a data deduplication system 200 is illustrated. As discussed above and in further detail below, the data deduplication system 200 may provide for target-based data deduplication operations that are performed by the storage system in order to address issues associated with source-based data deduplication operations. As such, the discussion of the data deduplication system 200 is provided below to summarize such target-based data deduplication operations for comparison in the discussion of the networking-level-based deduplication operations below. In the illustrated embodiment, the data deduplication system 200 incudes a host system 202. In an embodiment, the host system 202 may be provided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or all of the components of the IHS 100, and in specific examples may include server devices, virtual machines, desktop computing devices, laptop/notebook computing devices, tablet computing devices, mobile phones, and/or other host devices that would be apparent to one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure. However, while illustrated and discussed as a single host device, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that many more host device(s) may be provided in the host system 200 and may include any devices that may be configured to operate similarly as discussed below.

In the illustrated embodiment, the host system 202 is coupled to a networking system 204 that may be provided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or all of the components of the IHS 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the networking system 204 includes a pair of networking devices 204 and 204 b such as, for example, network switch devices. However, while illustrated and discussed as a being provided by a pair of network switch devices, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the networking system 204 may include any devices that may be configured to operate similarly as the networking device(s) 204 a and 204 b discussed below. In the illustrated embodiment, the networking system 204 is coupled to a storage system 206 that may be provided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or all of the components of the IHS 100. In a specific example, the storage system 206 may be provided by a Software-Defined Storage (SDS) system, a Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCl) system (e.g., an HCl cluster), a Storage Area Network/Network Attached Storage (SAN/NAS) system, and/or a variety of other storage systems that one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize may operate similarly as discussed below. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the storage system 206 may provide a primary storage system for the host system 202 (e.g., as opposed to backup storage system, an archive storage system, and/or other storage systems known in the art), with deduplication operations performed for data being stored in the primary storage system. However, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the deduplication operations may be performed on other storage systems (e.g., the backup storage system and/or archive storage system discussed below) while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

In the illustrated embodiment, the storage system 206 includes a chassis 206 a that houses the components of the storage system 206, only some of which are illustrated below. For example, the chassis 206 a may house a processing system (not illustrated, but which may include the processor 102 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) and a memory system (not illustrated, but which may include the memory 114 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a deduplication engine 208 that is configured to perform the functionality of the deduplication engines and/or storage systems discussed below. In a specific example, the deduplication engine 208 may be provided by a storage system appliance that is included in the SDS system, HCl system, or other storage system, although other deduplication processing systems will fall within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

The chassis 206 a may also house a database storage device (not illustrated, but which may include the storage 108 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the deduplication engine 208 (e.g., via a coupling between the storage system and the processing system) and that includes a deduplication database 210 that is configured to store any of the information utilized by the deduplication engine 208 discussed below. For example, the deduplication database 210 may be provided by a storage system appliance that is included in the SDS system, HCl system, or other storage system, although other deduplication storage systems will fall within the scope of the present disclosure as well. In a specific example, the deduplication database 210 may be “carved out” or otherwise provided by storage that is available in the storage system 206 (e.g., Software-Defined Storage (SDS) available in the storage system 206), often in a redundant manner (e.g., providing redundant deduplication databases for use in the event of a storage device failure.) Furthermore, the deduplication functionality (e.g., the deduplication engine 208 and deduplication database 210) in the primary storage provided by the storage system 206 may instead be provided in a backup storage or archival storage while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well

The chassis 206 may also house a plurality of storage subsystems such as, for example, the storage subsystems 212, 214, 216, and 218 illustrated in FIG. 2, each of which may be coupled to the networking system 204. For example, the networking devices 204 a and 204 b in the networking system 204 may be redundantly configured to provide high availability of networking ports for the storage subsystems 212, 214, 216, and 218, which allows writes from the host system 202 via the networking system 204 to be transmitted by either of the networking devices 204 a and 204 b in a non-coupled manner with no fixed assignments between networking devices and storage subsystems, although coupled/fixed assignments between networking devices and storage subsystems (e.g., in which a dedicated networking device is used to transmit data to a particular storage subsystem unless there is a failure that requires the use of the other networking device) will fall within the scope of the present disclosure as well. However, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that other storage subsystem/networking system coupling configurations will fall within the scope of the present disclosure as well. Furthermore, while four storage subsystems are provided in the storage system 206 in the illustrated embodiment, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that storage systems with fewer or more storage subsystems will fall within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

Continuing with the examples provided above, the storage subsystems 212-218 may be provided by SDS node devices in an SDS system, HCl node devices in an HCl cluster/system, and/or any other storage subsystems that would be apparent to one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure. In the illustrated example, each of the storage subsystems includes a plurality of storage devices, with the storage subsystem 212 including a plurality of storage devices 212 a, 212 b, and up to 212 c; the storage subsystem 214 including a plurality of storage devices 214 a, 214 b, and up to 214 c; the storage subsystem 216 including a plurality of storage devices 216 a, 216 b, and up to 216 c; and the storage subsystem 218 including a plurality of storage devices 218 a, 218 b, and up to 218 c. In an embodiment, the storage devices 212 a-c, 214 a-c, 216 a-c, and 218 a-c may be provided by Solid State Drives (SSDs) such as Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) SSDs, Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), and/or any other storage devices that would be apparent to one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure. While a single data deduplication system 200 is illustrated, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that more data deduplication systems may be provided while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, while a specific data deduplication system 200 has been illustrated and described, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the data deduplication system of 200 may include a variety of components and component configurations while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, an embodiment of a method 300 for performing data deduplication operations using the data deduplication system 200 is illustrated. As discussed above and in further detail below, the method 300 provides a target-based data deduplication method that is briefly summarized below for discussion of the networking-level-based data deduplication method of the present disclosure. The method 300 begins at block 302 where a data deduplication engine receives data from a host system. With reference to FIG. 4A, in an embodiment of block 302, the host system 202 (e.g., an application host, VM, etc.) may generate and transmit data 400 such that the data is received by the networking device 204 b in the networking system 204 and forwarded by that networking device 204 b to the deduplication engine 208 in the storage subsystem 206. Continuing with the specific examples provided above, the application host or VM included in the host system 202 may write an object (e.g., in a data packet) to the SDS system or HCl system providing the storage system 206 (e.g., a primary storage system) such that the object is received by a data handling subsystem that provides the deduplication engine 208 and that is configured to perform the deduplication operations discussed below as part of its data storage functions.

The method 300 then proceeds to block 304 where the data deduplication engine generates data deduplication identifiers for the data. With reference to FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 4D, in an embodiment of block 304, the deduplication engine 208 may receive the data 400 and perform data chunking operations 402 to generate data chunks 400 a, 400 b, 400 c, and 400 d, and then may perform respective hashing operations 404 a, 404 b, 404 c, and 404 d on the data chunks 400 a, 400 b, 400 c, and 400 d in order to generate respective data deduplication identifiers 406 a, 406 b, 406 c, and 406 d. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the hashing operations 404 a-404 d performed on the data chunks 400 a-400 d operate to map each data chunk (which may have arbitrary size) to its associated data deduplication identifier that is unique for that data chunk in the data deduplication system 200, and that may have a fixed size. However, while hashing operations are discussed herein, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that other operations may be utilized to generate the data deduplication identifiers discussed above while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

The method 300 then proceeds to decision block 306 where it is determined whether a data deduplication identifier is stored in a data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 4D, in an embodiment of decision block 306, the data deduplication engine 208 may perform respective checking operations 408 a, 408 b, 408 c, and 408 d to check whether the data deduplication identifiers 406 a-406 d generated at block 304 are already stored in deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the deduplication database 210. As discussed below, any “new” data received from the host system 202 (e.g., data that is not duplicative of data that is currently stored in the storage system 206) may have its data deduplication identifier generated and stored in the data deduplication database 210 as part of its storage in the storage system 206 and, as such, at decision block 306, the data deduplication engine 208 may compare each data deduplication identifier 406 a-406 d generated at block 304 with the data deduplication identifiers stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the deduplication database 210 to determine whether the data chunks 400 a-400 d are “new” data or “duplicative” data that was previously received from the host system 202 (e.g., data that is duplicative of data that is currently stored in the storage system 206.) As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the host system 202 may be provided by multiple host systems, each which may include multiple host devices, and host systems/host devices may differ in type. As such, multiple host systems/devices may write data to the storage system 206 and any of that data may be deduplicated as described herein.

If, at decision block 306, it is determined that the data deduplication identifier is not stored in the data deduplication database, the method 300 proceeds to block 308 where the data deduplication engine stores the data deduplication identifier in association with a data counter in the data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 4E, in an embodiment of block 308 and following a determination at decision block 306 that a data deduplication identifier generated for a respective data chunk is not stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the deduplication database 210, the data deduplication engine 208 may perform data deduplication identifier storage operations 410 to store the data deduplication identifier generated for that respective data chunk in the deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the deduplication database 210. Furthermore, any data deduplication identifier stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the data deduplication database 210 may be stored as part of a data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for its associated data that includes that data deduplication identifier for that data and a data counter for that data, discussed in further detail below. The method 300 then proceeds to block 310 where the data deduplication engine stores the data in a storage system. With reference to FIG. 4F, in an embodiment of block 310, the data deduplication engine 208 may then perform data storage operations 412 to store the data 400 that was received at block 302 in a storage device in one of the storage subsystems 212-218 in the storage system 206.

If at decision block 306, it is determined that the data deduplication identifier is stored in the data deduplication database, the method 300 proceeds to block 312 where the data deduplication engine increments a data counter associated with the data deduplication identifier in the data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 4G, in an embodiment of block 312 and following a determination at decision block 306 that a data deduplication identifier generated for a respective data chunk is stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the deduplication database 210, the data deduplication engine 208 may perform data counter incrementing operations 414 to increment the data counter associated with that respective data chunk in the deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the deduplication database 210. As discussed above, any data deduplication identifier stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 210 a in the data deduplication database 210 may be stored as part of a data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for its associated data that includes that data deduplication identifier for that data and a data counter for that data, and any time “duplicative” data is received, the data counter associated with that data may be incremented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the incrementing of the data counter for data that is already stored in the storage system 206 when “duplicative” data for that data is received provides a count of the number of host devices in the host system 202 that have provided that data for storage in the storage system 206, and thus the number of host devices in the host system 202 that may wish to retrieve that data. As such, as discussed further below, data may be kept stored in the storage system 206 as long as the data counter associated with that data is not at zero.

The method 300 then proceeds to block 314 where the data deduplication engine discards the data. In an embodiment, at block 314, the data deduplication engine 208 may then discard the data 400 (i.e., as the data deduplication engine 208 has determined that a copy of that data is already stored in the storage system 206.) With reference to FIG. 4H, following the storage of the data in the storage system 206 at block 310 or the discarding of the data at block 314, the data deduplication engine 208 may operate to generate and transmit an acknowledgement 416 to the networking device 204 b, which forwards that acknowledgement 416 to the host system 202. As such, the application host or Virtual Machine (VM) in the host system 202 may receive the acknowledgement 416 that confirms that the data 400 is stored in the storage system 206. Following either of block 310 or block 314, the method 300 may return to block 302 and loop back through the block 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, and 314 to receive data, generate a data deduplication identifier for that data, determine whether that data deduplication identifier is stored in a data deduplication database, store the data in a storage system and the data deduplication identifier in association with a data counter in the data deduplication database if so, and discard the data and increment the data counter associated with the data deduplication identifier in the data deduplication database if not.

Furthermore, in addition to the method 300, a data deletion method 315 may be performed by the data deduplication system 200 as well. For example, with reference to FIG. 3B, the method 315 may begin at decision block 316 where it is determined whether a data deletion instruction for the data has been received. In an embodiment, at decision block 316, the data deduplication engine 208 may determine whether a deletion instruction is received from the host system 202 (e.g., from any host device, application host, or VM that previously provided data that was stored in the storage system 206 as described above, or that previously provided “duplicative” data that was handled by the data deduplication engine 206 as described above.) If, at decision block 316, it is determined that the data deletion instruction for the data has not been received, the method 300 returns to block 302. As such, the method 315 may loop to determine whether a deletion instruction for data that is stored in the storage system is received, with the method 300 operating as discussed above to store “new” data in the storage system along with the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for that data in the data deduplication database 210, and increment the data counter for “duplicative” data while discarding that “duplicative” data, as long as no deletion instruction for that data is received.

If, at decision block 316, it is determined that the data deletion instruction for the data has been received, the method 300 proceeds to block 318 where the data deduplication engine decrements the data counter for the data. In an embodiment, at block 318 and in response to determining that a deletion instruction is received from the host system 202 (e.g., from any host device, application host, or VM that previously provided data that was stored in the storage system 206 as described above, or that previously provided “duplicative” data that was handled by the data deduplication engine 206 as described above), the data deduplication engine 208 may operate to decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for that data in the data deduplication database 210. The method 300 then proceeds to decision block 320 where it is determined whether the data counter for the data is at zero. In an embodiment, at decision block 320 and following the decrementing of the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for data in the data deduplication database 210, the data deduplication engine 208 will determine whether that data counter is at zero. If, at decision block 320, it is determined that the data counter for the data is not at zero, the method 300 returns to block 302. As such, the method 315 may loop to and decrement the data counter in response to data deletion instructions for data stored in the storage system as long as the data counter for that data is not at zero, with the method 300 operating as discussed above to store “new” data the storage system along with the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for that data in the data deduplication database 210, and increment the data counter for “duplicative” data while discarding that “duplicative” data.

If, at decision block 320, it is determined that the data counter for the data is at zero, the method 300 proceeds to block 322 where the data deduplication engine deletes the data from the storage system. In an embodiment, at block 322 and in response to determining that the data counter for data is at zero following the decrementing of that data counter in response to a deletion instruction for that data, the data deduplication engine 208 may cause that data to be deleted from the storage device in the storage subsystem upon which it is stored. The method 300 then returns to block 302. As such, the 315 may loop to decrement the data counter in response to data deletion instructions for data in the storage system as long as the data counter for that data is not at zero, and delete that data from the storage system in the event the data counter for that data is at zero following any decrementing operation, with the method 300 operating as discussed above to store “new” data the storage system along with the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for that data in the data deduplication database 210, and increment the data counter for “duplicative” data while discarding that “duplicative” data. As discussed above, a data counter for data that is at zero indicates that the last host device/application host/VM that previously provided that data for storage in the storage system 206 has requested its deletion, and thus that there is no need to continue to store that data in the storage system 206.

Thus, the data deduplication system 200 may operate according to the methods 300 and 315 to provide for target-based data deduplication operations that are performed by the storage system in order to address issues associated with source-based data deduplication operations that introduce compute/processing overhead for the host system/application host/VM. However, as discussed above, such target-based data deduplication operations provide for the transmission of data over the network from the host system to the storage system without performing data deduplication operations, thus using up network bandwidth for data that may be redundant and thus discarded by the backup appliance in the storage system during the data deduplication operations discussed above. The inventors of the present disclosure have developed the networking-level-based data deduplication system discussed below to address the issues introduced by both of the source-based data deduplication operations and target-based data deduplication operations discussed above.

With reference to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a data deduplication system 500 is illustrated that includes components that are similar to the components included in the data deduplication system 200, and thus are provided with the same reference numbers. In the illustrated embodiment, the data deduplication system 500 incudes the host system 202 discussed above with reference to FIG. 2. In the illustrated embodiment, the host system 202 is coupled to a deduplication system 502 that, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, includes a networking system 504 that may be provided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or all of the components of the IHS 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the networking system 504 includes a pair of networking devices 506 and 508 such as, for example, switch devices. For example, either or both of the networking devices 506 and 508 may be provided by “open-network” Top Of Rack (TOR) switch devices, which one of skill will recognize may each be provided by a switch device that includes the open-source LINUX® operating system and that is configured to be programmed with network-level functionality in order to, for example, optimize TOR operations or overall system operations, as well as provide for the functionality discussed below. However, while illustrated and discussed as a being provided by a pair of open-network TOR switch devices, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the networking system 504 may include any devices that may be configured to operate similarly as the networking device(s) 506 and 508 discussed below.

The networking device 508 is illustrated as including a chassis 508 a that houses the components of the networking device 508, only some of which are illustrated below. For example, the chassis 508 a may house a processing system (not illustrated, but which may include the processor 102 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) and a memory system (not illustrated, but which may include the memory 114 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a deduplication engine 508 b that is configured to perform the functionality of the deduplication engines and/or networking devices discussed below. In a specific example, the deduplication engine 508 b may be provided by a networking processing system that is included in the networking device 508, although other deduplication processing systems will fall within the scope of the present disclosure as well. The chassis 508 a may also house a storage system (not illustrated, but which may include the storage 108 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the deduplication engine 508 b (e.g., via a coupling between the storage system and the processing system) and that includes a deduplication database 508 c that is configured to store any of the information utilized by the deduplication engine 508 b discussed below. In a specific example, the deduplication database 508 c may be provided by a storage system included in the chassis 508 a of the networking device 508, which as discussed below may include limited storage capacity.

While not explicitly illustrated, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the networking device 506 may include similar components (e.g., a deduplication engine and deduplication database) that are configured to perform functionality similar to the functionality discussed below for the networking device 508. For example, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will appreciate that the networking system 504 may provide a highly available networking system that may utilized networking devices 506 and 508 (e.g., TOR switch devices) that are configured in a redundant manner. As such, while illustrated and described as being provided by the networking device 508, the deduplication engine 508 b and deduplication database 508 c may be provided in a cohesive, consistent manner via the networking system 504 by either of the networking devices 506 and 508 via their redundant configuration discussed above.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the deduplication system 502 also includes a Software-Defined Network (SDN) controller system 510 that is coupled to the networking system 504 and that may be provided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or all of the components of the IHS 100. For example, the SDN controller system 510 may be provided as part of the storage system 206 (e.g., on a VM running on a device in the storage system 206), or outside the storage system 206 (e.g., as part of or connected to a leaf switch device or aggregator switch device that are coupled to the TOR switch devices that provide the networking devices 506 and 508.) In addition to a variety of SDN processing functionality discussed below, the SDN controller system 510 may include a storage system (not illustrated, but which may include the storage 108 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the deduplication engine 508 b (e.g., via a coupling between the storage system in the SDN controller system 510 and the processing system in the networking device 508) and that includes a deduplication database 510 a that is configured to store any of the information utilized by the deduplication engine 508 b discussed below. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the storage system in the SDN controller system 510 may include a larger storage capacity relative to the networking device 508, and thus may be utilized in the manner discussed below.

In the illustrated embodiment, the networking system 504 is also coupled to the storage system 206 discussed above with reference to FIG. 2, with the exception that the storage system 206 no longer includes the deduplication engine 208 and the deduplication database 210 discussed above. Thus, in some embodiments, the data deduplication system 500 provides for the removal of the deduplication engine 208 and deduplication database 210 from the storage system 206, and the provisioning of the deduplication engine 508 b and the deduplication database 508 c in the networking device 508 (and corresponding components in the networking device 506), as well as the deduplication database 510 a in the SDN controller system 510. Similarly as discussed above, while a single data deduplication system 500 is illustrated, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that more data deduplication systems may be provided while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, while a specific data deduplication system 500 has been illustrated and described, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the data deduplication system of the present disclosure may include a variety of components and component configurations while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

With reference to FIG. 6, an embodiment of a data deduplication system 600 is illustrated that includes components that are similar to the components included in the data deduplication system 200, and thus are provided with the same reference numbers. In the illustrated embodiment, the data deduplication system 600 incudes the host system 202 discussed above with reference to FIG. 2. In the illustrated embodiment, the host system 202 is coupled to a deduplication system 602 that, in the example illustrated in FIG. 6, includes a networking system 604 that may be provided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or all of the components of the IHS 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the networking system 604 includes a pair of networking devices 604 a and 604 b such as, for example, switch devices. However, while illustrated and discussed as a being provided by a pair of switch devices, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the networking system 604 may include any devices that may be configured to operate similarly as the networking device(s) 604 a and 604 b discussed below.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the deduplication system 602 also includes a Software-Defined Network (SDN) controller system 606 that is coupled to the networking system 604 and that may be provided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or all of the components of the IHS 100. For example, the SDN controller system 606 may be provided as part of the storage system 206 (e.g., on a VM running on a device in the storage system 206), or outside the storage system 206 (e.g., as part of or connected to a leaf switch device or aggregator switch device that are coupled to TOR switch devices that provide the networking devices 506 and 508.) The SDN controller system 606 is illustrated as including a chassis 606 a that houses the components of the SDN controller system 606, only some of which are illustrated below. For example, the chassis 606 a may house a processing system (not illustrated, but which may include the processor 102 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) and a memory system (not illustrated, but which may include the memory 114 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a deduplication engine 606 b that is configured to perform the functionality of the deduplication engines and/or SDN controller systems discussed below. The chassis 606 a may also house a storage system (not illustrated, but which may include the storage 108 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the deduplication engine 606 b (e.g., via a coupling between the storage system and the processing system) and that includes a deduplication database 606 c that is configured to store any of the information utilized by the deduplication engine 606 b discussed below.

In the illustrated embodiment, the networking system 604 is also coupled to the storage system 206 discussed above with reference to FIG. 2, with the exception that the storage system 206 no longer includes the deduplication engine 208 and the deduplication database 210 discussed above. Thus, in some embodiments, the data deduplication system 600 provides for the removal of the deduplication engine 208 and deduplication database 210 from the storage system 206, and the provisioning of the deduplication engine 606 b and the deduplication database 606 c in the SDN controller system 606 that is coupled to the networking system 604. Similarly as discussed above, while a single data deduplication system 606 is illustrated, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that more data deduplication systems may be provided while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, while a specific data deduplication system 606 has been illustrated and described, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the data deduplication system of the present disclosure may include a variety of components and component configurations while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

Referring now to FIG. 7A, an embodiment of a method 700 for performing data deduplication operations using the data deduplication systems 500 or 600 is illustrated. As discussed below, the systems and methods of the present disclosure move data deduplication operations to the networking level between the host system that generates data and the storage system that stores that data, thus offloading the data deduplication processing overhead from the host system, while conserving bandwidth on the network path to the storage system. For example, the data deduplication systems of the present disclosure may include a data deduplication subsystem coupled between a host system and a storage system such as, for example, in a networking device that transmits data between the host system and the storage system, and/or in an SDN controller device coupled to that networking device. The data deduplication system receives data from the host system, generates a data deduplication identifier for the data, and determines whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in a data deduplication database. In response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in the data deduplication database, the data deduplication system stores the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database in association with a data counter for the data, and transmits the data to the storage system for storage. In response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in the data deduplication database, the data deduplication system increments a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database, and discards the data. As such, “inline” data deduplication operations are described that reduce host system processing overhead while conserving network bandwidth on the path to the storage system.

The method 700 begins at block 702 where a data deduplication engine receives data from a host system. With reference to the data deduplication system 500 illustrated in FIG. 8, in an embodiment of block 702, the host system 202 (e.g., an application host, VM, etc.) may generate and transmit data 800 such that the data is received by the deduplication engine 508 b provided by the networking device 204 b in the networking system 204. With reference to the data deduplication system 600 illustrated in FIG. 9, in an embodiment of block 702, the host system 202 (e.g., an application host, VM, etc.) may generate and transmit data 900 such that the data is received by the networking device 604 b in the networking system 604, and forwarded by the networking device 604 b to the deduplication engine 606 b in the SDN controller system 606. Similarly to the specific examples provided above, the application host or VM included in the host system 202 may transmit a data packet that includes the data 800 or the data 900, and that data packet may be received by the deduplication engine 508 b, or received by the networking device 604 b and forwarded to the deduplication engine 606 b.

With reference to FIG. 10, an embodiment of a TCP/IP data packet 1000 is illustrated that may be transmitted by the host system 202 at block 702, and that includes data 1002 that may provide the data 800 or the data 900 discussed above (and that is used interchangeably to describe either of the data 800 or the data 900 in some of the examples below). In some embodiments, the host system 202 (e.g., an application host or VM) may be configured to write in a variety of TCP/IP data packet sizes, but may operate to ensure that the first 128 bits of the data portion of the TCP/IP data packet (which stores the data 1002 in the data packet 1000 in FIG. 10) are empty (i.e., “NULL”).

The method 700 then proceeds to block 704 where the data deduplication engine generates data deduplication identifiers for the data. With reference to FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C, in an embodiment of block 704, the deduplication engine 508 b or 606 b may receive the data 1002 and perform data chunking operations 1102 to generate data chunks 1002 a, 1002 b, 1002 c, and 1002 d, and then may perform respective hashing operations 1104 a, 1104 b, 1104 c, and 1104 d on the data chunks 1002 a, 1002 b, 1002 c, and 1002 d in order to generate respective data deduplication identifiers 1106 a, 1106 b, 1106 c, and 1106 d. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the hashing operations 1104 a-1104 d performed on the data chunks 1002 a-1002 d operate to map each data chunk (which may have arbitrary size) to its associated data deduplication identifier that is unique for that data chunk for that data chunk in the data deduplication system 500 or 600, and that may have a fixed size. However, while hashing operations are discussed herein, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that other operations may be utilized to generate the data deduplication identifiers discussed above while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

The method 700 then proceeds to decision block 706 where it is determined whether a data deduplication identifier is stored in a data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 11C, in an embodiment of decision block 706, the data deduplication engine 508 b or 606 b may perform respective checking operations 1108 a, 1108 b, 1108 c, and 1108 d to check whether the data deduplication identifiers 1106 a-1106 d generated at block 704 are already stored in deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 508 c/510 a or 606 c. As discussed below, “new” data received from the host system 202 (e.g., data that is not duplicative of data that is currently stored in the storage system 206) may have its data deduplication identifier generated and stored in the data deduplication database 508 c/510 a or 606 c as part of its storage in the storage system 206 and, as such, at decision block 706 the data deduplication engine 508 b or 606 b may compare each data deduplication identifier 1106 a-1106 d generated at block 704 with the data deduplication identifiers stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 508 c/510 a or 606 c to determine whether the data chunks 1002 a-1002 d are “new” data or “duplicative” data received from the host system 202 (e.g., data that is duplicative of data that is currently stored in the storage system 206.)

With reference to the data deduplication system 500, and as illustrated in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the determination of whether a data deduplication identifier is stored in a data deduplication database in the data deduplication system 500 may include the deduplication engine 508 b performing a first checking operation 1200 to determine whether the data deduplication identifier generated at block 704 is already stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 508 c. In the event that the first checking operation 1200 determines that a data deduplication identifier generated at block 704 is already stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 508 c, the method 700 may proceed to block 712, discussed in further detail below. In the event that the first checking operation 1200 determines that a data deduplication identifier generated at block 704 is not already stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 508 c, the deduplication engine 508 b may perform a second checking operation 1202 to determine whether the data deduplication identifier generated at block 704 is already stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 510 a.

For example, the second checking operation 1202 may include the deduplication engine 508 b sending the data deduplication identifier along with a request to check it against the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 510 a to the SDN controller system 510, and the SDN controller system 510 may perform the data deduplication identifier check to determine whether the data deduplication identifier generated at block 704 is already stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 510 a, and then report back the results of the data deduplication identifier check to the deduplication engine 508 b. As discussed below, the storage capacity of the networking device 508 available for the deduplication database 508 c may be relatively limited compared to the storage capacity of the SDN controller system 510 available for the deduplication database 510 a, and thus a relatively smaller number of more recently received data deduplication identifier/data counter tuples may be stored in the deduplication database 508 c relative to the deduplication database 510 a, with the deduplication engine 508 b periodically copying the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuples from the deduplication database 508 c to the deduplication database 510 a as discussed in further detail below. However, while described as being moved from the deduplication database 508 c in the networking device 508 to the deduplication database 510 a in the SDN controller system 510, one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that the deduplication database 508 c may be provided in a variety of storage systems that are external to the networking device 508 while remaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

With reference to the data deduplication system 500, if at decision block 706 it is determined that the data deduplication identifier is not stored in the data deduplication database, the method 700 proceeds to block 708 where the data deduplication engine stores the data deduplication identifier in association with a data counter in the data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 12C, in an embodiment of block 708 and following a determination at decision block 706 that a data deduplication identifier generated for a respective data chunk is not stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication databases 508 c/510 a, the data deduplication engine 508 b may perform data deduplication identifier storage operations 1204 to store the data deduplication identifier generated for that respective data chunk in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 508 c. Furthermore, any data deduplication identifier stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the data deduplication database 508 c may be stored as part of a data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for its associated data that includes that data deduplication identifier for that data and a data counter for that data, discussed in further detail below.

The method 700 then proceeds to block 710 where the data deduplication engine stores the data in a storage system. With reference to FIG. 12D, in an embodiment of block 710, the data deduplication engine 508 b may then perform data storage operations 1206 to store the data 800/1002 that was received at block 702 in a storage device in one of the storage subsystems 212-218 in the storage system 206. In some embodiments, the data stored in the storage system 206 may be stored in association with the data deduplication identifier for that data. For example, as discussed above, the host system 202 may operate to ensure that the first 128 bits of the data portion of a TCP/IP data packet which stores the data (e.g., in the data packet 1000 in FIG. 10) is empty (i.e., “NULL”), and at block 710 the data deduplication engine 508 b may include the data deduplication identifier for that data in that 128 bits in the data portion of the data packet. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the inclusion of the data deduplication identifier with the data that is stored in the storage system 206 may provide a variety of benefits. For example, in the event of a failure, loss, or other unavailability of the data deduplication database(s), the data deduplication identifiers included with the data stored in the storage system 206 may be utilized to rebuild the data deduplication database(s) (e.g., by retrieving those data deduplication identifiers included with the data stored in the storage system 206 and providing them in a new data deduplication database.)

As discussed above, the deduplication engine 508 b may periodically copy the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuples from the deduplication database 508 c to the deduplication database 510 a. For example, subsequent to performing the data deduplication identifier storage operations 1204 and data storage operations 1206 illustrated in FIGS. 12C and 12D, the deduplication engine 508 b may synchronize the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuples in the deduplication database 508 c with the deduplication database 510 a. For example, with reference to FIG. 12E, the deduplication engine 508 b may perform synchronization operations 1208 to synchronize the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuples in the deduplication database 508 c with the deduplication database 510 a. As such, in some embodiments the deduplication database 510 a may store any data deduplication identifier/data counter tuples with non-zero data counters (discussed in further detail below), while the deduplication database 508 c may store only a subset of data deduplication identifier/data counter tuples (e.g., for recently received data) with non-zero data counters, resulting in the performing of the first checking operations 1200 and the second checking operations 1202 in some embodiments of block 706.

With reference to the data deduplication system 600, if at decision block 706 it is determined that the data deduplication identifier is not stored in the data deduplication database, the method 700 proceeds to block 708 where the data deduplication engine stores the data deduplication identifier in association with a data counter in the data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 13A, in an embodiment of block 708 and following a determination at decision block 706 that a data deduplication identifier generated for a respective data chunk is not stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication databases 606 c, the data deduplication engine 606 b may perform data deduplication identifier storage operations 1300 to store the data deduplication identifier generated for that respective data chunk in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 606 c. Furthermore, any data deduplication identifier stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the data deduplication database 606 c may be stored as part of a data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for its associated data that includes that data deduplication identifier for that data and a data counter for that data, discussed in further detail below. The method 700 then proceeds to block 710 where the data deduplication engine stores the data in a storage system.

With reference to FIG. 13B, in an embodiment of block 710, the data deduplication engine 606 b may then perform data storage operations 1302 to transmit the data 900/1002 that was received at block 702 in the networking device 604 b, with the networking device 604 b performing data storage operations 1304 to transmit that data 900/1002 for storage in a storage device in one of the storage subsystems 212-218 in the storage system 206. Similarly as discussed above, in some embodiments, the data stored in the storage system 206 may be stored in association with the data deduplication identifier for that data. For example, as discussed above, the host system 202 may operate to ensure that the first 128 bits of the data portion of a TCP/IP data packet which stores the data (e.g., in the data packet 1000 in FIG. 10) is empty (i.e., “NULL”), and at block 710 the data deduplication engine 606 b may include the data deduplication identifier for that data in that 128 bits in the data portion of the data packet. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the inclusion of the data deduplication identifier with the data that is stored in the storage system 206 may provide a variety of benefits. For example, in the event of a failure, loss, or other unavailability of the data deduplication database(s), the data deduplication identifiers included with the data stored in the storage system 206 may be utilized to rebuild the data deduplication database(s) (e.g., by retrieving those data deduplication identifiers included with the data stored in the storage system 206 and providing them in a new data deduplication database.)

With reference to the data deduplication system 500, if at decision block 706, it is determined that the data deduplication identifier is not stored in the data deduplication database, the method 700 proceeds to block 712 where the data deduplication engine increments a data counter associated with the data deduplication identifier in the data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 12F, in an embodiment of block 712 and following a determination at decision block 706 that a data deduplication identifier generated for a respective data chunk is stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication databases 508 c or 510 a, the data deduplication engine 508 b may perform data counter incrementing operations 1210 to increment the data counter associated with that respective data chunk in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication databases 508 c or 510 a. As such, if the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for the data is stored in the deduplication database 508 c, the data deduplication engine 508 b will operate to increment that data counter. Furthermore, if the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for the data is stored in the deduplication database 510, the data deduplication engine 508 b will transmit a data counter incrementing instruction to the SDN controller system 510, and the SDN controller system 210 will operate to increment that data counter.

With reference to the data deduplication system 600, if at decision block 706, it is determined that the data deduplication identifier is not stored in the data deduplication database, the method 700 proceeds to block 712 where the data deduplication engine increments a data counter associated with the data deduplication identifier in the data deduplication database. With reference to FIG. 13C, in an embodiment of block 712 and following a determination at decision block 706 that a data deduplication identifier generated for a respective data chunk is stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 606 c, the data deduplication engine 606 b may perform data counter incrementing operations 1306 to increment the data counter associated with that respective data chunk in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the deduplication database 606 c.

As discussed above, any data deduplication identifier stored in the deduplication mapping table(s) 1100 in the data deduplication databases 508 c/510 a or 606 c may be stored as part of a data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for its associated data that includes that data deduplication identifier for that data and a data counter for that data, and any time “duplicative” data is received, the data counter associated with that data may be incremented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, the incrementing of the data counter for data that is already stored in the storage system 206 when “duplicative” data for that data is received provides a count of the number of host devices in the host system 202 that have provided that data for storage in the storage system 206, and thus the number of host devices in the host system 202 that may wish to retrieve that data. As such, as discussed further below, data may be kept stored in the storage system 206 as long as the data counter associated with that data is not at zero.

The method 700 then proceeds to block 714 where the data deduplication engine discards the data. With reference to the data deduplication system 500, in an embodiment of block 714, the data deduplication engine 508 b may then discard the data 800/1100 (i.e., as the data deduplication engine 508 b has determined that a copy of that data is already stored in the storage system 206.) Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 12G, following the storage of the data in the storage system 206 at block 710 or the discarding of the data at block 714, the data deduplication engine 508 b may operate to generate and transmit an acknowledgement 1212 to the host system 202. As such, the application host or VM in the host system 202 may receive the acknowledgement 1212 that confirms that the data 800/1002 is stored in the storage system 206. With reference to the data deduplication system 600, in an embodiment of block 714, the data deduplication engine 606 b may then discard the data 900/1100 (i.e., as the data deduplication engine 606 b has determined that a copy of that data is already stored in the storage system 206.) Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 13D, following the storage of the data in the storage system 206 at block 710 or the discarding of the data at block 714, the data deduplication engine 606 b may operate to generate and transmit an acknowledgement 1308 to the networking device 604 b, which forwards that acknowledgement 1308 to the host system 202. As such, the application host or VM in the host system 202 may receive the acknowledgement 1306 that confirms that the data 900/1002 is stored in the storage system 206. Following either of block 710 or block 714, the method 700 may return to block 702 and loop back through the block 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, and 714 to receive data, generate a data deduplication identifier for that data, determine whether that data deduplication identifier is stored in a data deduplication database, store the data in a storage system and the data deduplication identifier in association with a data counter in the data deduplication database if so, and discard the data and increment the data counter associated with the data deduplication identifier in the data deduplication database if not.

Furthermore, in addition to the method 700, a data deletion method 715 may be performed by the data deduplication system 500 or 600 as well. For example, with reference to FIG. 7B, the method 715 may begin at decision block 716 where it is determined whether a data deletion instruction for the data has been received. In an embodiment, at decision block 716, the data deduplication engine 508 b or 606 b may determine whether a deletion instruction is received from the host system 202 (e.g., from any host device, application host, or VM that previously provided data that was stored in the storage system 206 as described above, or that previously provided “duplicative” data that was handled by the data deduplication engine 508 b or 606 b as described above.) If, at decision block 716, it is determined that the data deletion instruction for the data has not been received, the method 700 returns to block 702. As such, the method 715 may loop to determine whether a deletion instruction for data that is stored in the storage system is received, with the method 700 operating as discussed above to store “new” data the storage system along with the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for that data in the data deduplication database 508 c/510 a or 606 d, and increment the data counter for “duplicative” data while discarding that “duplicative” data, as long as no deletion instruction for that data is received.

If, at decision block 716, it is determined that the data deletion instruction for the data has been received, the method 700 proceeds to block 718 where the data deduplication engine decrements the data counter for the data. With reference to the data deduplication system 500, in an embodiment of block 718 and in response to determining that a deletion instruction is received from the host system 202 (e.g., from any host device, application host, or VM that previously provided data that was stored in the storage system 206 as described above, or provided “duplicative” data that was handled by the data deduplication engine 206 as described above), the data deduplication engine 508 b may operate to decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for that data in the data deduplication database 508 c/510 a. As such, if the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple of that data is stored in the data deduplication database 508 c, the data deduplication engine 508 b may operate to decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for that data in the data deduplication database 508 c. However, if the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple of that data is stored in the data deduplication database 510 a, the data deduplication engine 508 b may send a decrementing instruction to the SDN controller system 510, and the SDN controller system 510 may operate to decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for that data in the data deduplication database 510 a. With reference to the data deduplication system 600, in an embodiment of block 718 and in response to determining that a deletion instruction is received from the host system 202 (e.g., from any host device, application host, or VM that previously provided data that was stored in the storage system 206 as described above, or provided “duplicative” data that was handled by the data deduplication engine as described above), the data deduplication engine 606 b may operate to decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for that data in the data deduplication database 606 c.

The method 700 then proceeds to decision block 720 where it is determined whether the data counter for the data is at zero. In an embodiment, at decision block 720 and following the decrementing of the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for data in the data deduplication database 508 c/510 a or 606 c, the data deduplication engine 508 b or 606 b will determine whether that data counter is at zero. If, at decision block 720, it is determined that the data counter for the data is not at zero, the method 700 returns to block 702. As such, the method 715 may loop to decrement the data counter in response to data deletion instructions for data in the storage system as long as the data counter for that data is not at zero, with the method 700 operating as discussed above to store “new” data the storage system along with the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for that data in the data deduplication database 508 c/510 a or 606 c, and increment the data counter for “duplicative” data while discarding that “duplicative” data.

If, at decision block 720, it is determined that the data counter for the data is at zero, the method 700 proceeds to block 722 where the data deduplication engine deletes the data from the storage system. In an embodiment, at block 722 and in response to determining that the data counter for data is at zero following the decrementing of that data counter in response to a deletion instruction for that data, the data deduplication engine 508 b or 606 b may cause that data to be deleted from the storage device in the storage subsystem upon which it is stored. The method 700 then returns to block 702. As such, the method 715 may loop to decrement the data counter in response to data deletion instructions for data in the storage system as long as the data counter for that data is not at zero, and delete that data from the storage system in the event the data counter for that data is at zero following its decrementing, with the method 700 operating as discussed above to store “new” data the storage system along with the data deduplication identifier/data counter tuple for that data in the data deduplication database 508 c/510 a or 606 c, and increment the data counter for “duplicative” data while discarding that “duplicative” data. As discussed above, a data counter for data that is at zero indicates that the last host device/application host/VM that previously provided that data for storage in the storage system has requested its deletion, and thus that there is no need to continue to store that data in the storage system 206.

Thus, systems and methods have been described that provided a “inline” data deduplication system in a networking device and SDN controller system that are coupled between a host system that generates and transmits data, and a storage system that stores that data. The data deduplication system receives data from the host system generates a data deduplication identifier for the data, and determines whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in a data deduplication database. In response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in the data deduplication database, the data deduplication system stores the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database in association with a data counter for the data, and transmits the data to the storage system for storage. In response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in the data deduplication database, the data deduplication system increments a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database, and discards the data. Thus, data deduplication operations are moved to the networking level between the host system that generates data and the storage system that stores the data, thus offloading the data deduplication processing overhead from the host system, while conserving bandwidth on the network path to the storage system.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, in a specific example, the performance of deduplication operations in a TOR switch device or SDN controller systems coupled to that TOR switch device ensures that only unique data is written to the storage system, resulting in less network traffic between the TOR switch device and the storage system, and associated storage system performance improvements. The use of a TOR switch device and SDN controller system as described above introduces a unique and consistent technique to perform deduplication operations irrespective of the type of application host, VM, or workload provided by the host system. Furthermore, the deduplication operations proposed herein need not be application-aware and/or provided by managed source-based deduplication systems, data-protection-aware and/or provided by managed target-based deduplication systems, or SDS-aware and/or provided by post-processing based systems. Rather, deduplication operations according to the teachings of the present disclosure may be performed at the networking/switch level and consistently across all infrastructure, which allows a mix of traditional storage and SDS/HCl storage running virtualized infrastructure and/or any applications/workloads.

Although illustrative embodiments have been shown and described, a wide range of modification, change and substitution is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances, some features of the embodiments may be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the embodiments disclosed herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A data deduplication system, comprising: a host system; a storage system; and a data deduplication subsystem that is coupled to each of the host system and the storage system, wherein the data deduplication subsystem is configured to: receive data from the host system; generate a data deduplication identifier for the data; determine whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in a data deduplication database; in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in the data deduplication database: store the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database in association with a data counter for the data; and transmit the data to the storage system for storage; and in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in the data deduplication database: increment a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; and discard the data.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data deduplication subsystem includes: a networking device that is coupled to each of the host system and the storage system and that is configured to perform the operations of data deduplication system.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the data deduplication subsystem includes: a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller system that is coupled to the networking device, wherein the networking device includes a first portion of the data deduplication database and the SDN controller system includes a second portion of the data deduplication database, and wherein the networking device is configured to perform the operations of data deduplication system by: determining whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in either of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database; storing, in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in either of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database, the data deduplication identifier for the data in the first portion of the data deduplication database in association with the data counter for the data; and incrementing, in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in one of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database, a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the one of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the networking device is configured to perform the operations of data deduplication system by: transferring the data deduplication identifier for the data and the data counter for the data from the first portion of the data deduplication database to the second portion of the data deduplication database.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data deduplication subsystem includes: a networking device that is coupled to each of the host system and the storage system; and a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller system that is coupled to the networking device that is configured to perform the operations of data deduplication system.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data deduplication subsystem is configured to: receive a data delete instruction from the host system that identifies the data for deletion; decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; determine whether the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is at zero; and cause, in response to determining that the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is at zero, the data to be deleted from the storage system.
 7. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising: a processing system; and a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a data deduplication engine that is configured to: receive data via a network from a host system; generate a data deduplication identifier for the data; determine whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in a data deduplication database; in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in the data deduplication database: store the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database in association with a data counter for the data; and transmit the data via the network to a storage system for storage; and in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in the data deduplication database: increment a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; and discard the data.
 8. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the data deduplication engine is provided in a networking device that is coupled to each of the host system and the storage system.
 9. The IHS of claim 8, wherein the networking device is coupled to a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller system and includes a first portion of the data deduplication database, the SDN controller system includes a second portion of the data deduplication database, and wherein the data deduplication engine is configured to: determine whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in either of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database; store, in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in either of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database, the data deduplication identifier for the data in the first portion of the data deduplication database in association with the data counter for the data; and increment, in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in one of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database, a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the one of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database.
 10. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the data deduplication engine is configured to: transfer the data deduplication identifier for the data and the data counter for the data from the first portion of the data deduplication database to the second portion of the data deduplication database.
 11. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the data deduplication engine is provided in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller system that is coupled to a networking device, wherein the networking device is coupled to each of the host system and the storage system.
 12. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the data deduplication engine is configured to: receive a data delete instruction from the host system that identifies the data for deletion; decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; determine that the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is at zero; and cause, in response to determining that the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is at zero, the data to be deleted from the storage system.
 13. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the data deduplication engine is configured to: receive a data delete instruction from the host system that identifies the data for deletion; decrement the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; determine that the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is not at zero; and maintain the data in the storage system.
 14. A method for performing data deduplication, comprising: receiving, by a data deduplication system, data via a network from a host system; generating, by the data deduplication system, a data deduplication identifier for the data; determining, by the data deduplication system, whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in a data deduplication database; in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in the data deduplication database: storing, by the data deduplication system, the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database in association with a data counter for the data; and transmitting, by the data deduplication system, the data via the network to a storage system for storage; and in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in the data deduplication database: incrementing, by the data deduplication system, a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; and discarding, by the data deduplication system, the data.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the data deduplication system is provided in a networking device that is coupled to each of the host system and the storage system.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the networking device is coupled to a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller system and includes a first portion of the data deduplication database, the SDN controller system includes a second portion of the data deduplication database, and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the data deduplication system, whether the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in either of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database; storing, by the data deduplication system in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is not stored in either of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database, the data deduplication identifier for the data in the first portion of the data deduplication database in association with the data counter for the data; and incrementing, by the data deduplication system in response to determining that the data deduplication identifier for the data is stored in one of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database, a data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the one of the first portion of the data deduplication database and the second portion of the data deduplication database.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: transferring, by the data deduplication system, the data deduplication identifier for the data and the data counter for the data from the first portion of the data deduplication database to the second portion of the data deduplication database.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the data deduplication system is provided in a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller system that is coupled to a networking device, wherein the networking device is coupled to each of the host system and the storage system.
 19. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, by the data deduplication system, a data delete instruction from the host system that identifies the data for deletion; decrementing, by the data deduplication system, the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; determining, by the data deduplication system, that the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is at zero; and causing, by the data deduplication system in response to determining that the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is at zero, the data to be deleted from the storage system.
 20. The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, by the data deduplication system, a data delete instruction from the host system that identifies the data for deletion; decrementing, by the data deduplication system, the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database; determining, by the data deduplication system, that the data counter that is associated with the data deduplication identifier for the data in the data deduplication database is not at zero; and maintaining, by the data deduplication system, the data in the storage system. 